Botswana
| Republic of Botswana Lefatshe la Botswana. |
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| Motto: Pula (Rain) | ||||||
| Anthem: Fatshe leno la rona (This Land of Ours) |
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![Location of Botswana (dark blue)– in Africa (light blue & dark grey)– in the African Union (light blue) — [Legend]](/wiki/File:Location_Botswana_AU_Africa.svg) Location of Botswana (dark blue)
– in Africa (light blue & dark grey) |
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| Capital (and largest city) |
Gaborone 25°40′S 25°55′E / 25.667°S 25.917°E |
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| Official language(s) | English Tswana |
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| Demonym | Batswana | |||||
| Government | Parliamentary republic | |||||
| - | President | Ian Khama | ||||
| - | Vice President | Mompati Merafhe | ||||
| Independence | ||||||
| - | from the United Kingdom | 30 September 1966 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 581,730 km2 (47th) 224,610 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 2.6 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2010 estimate | 2,029,307[1] (144th) | ||||
| - | 2001 census | 1,680,863 | ||||
| - | Density | 3.4/km2 (229th) 8.9/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2010 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $28.491 billion[2] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $15,489[2] | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2010 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $14.030 billion[2] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $7,627[2] | ||||
| Gini (1993) | 63[3] (high) | |||||
| HDI (2010) |  0.633[4] (medium) (98th) |
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| Currency | Pula (BWP) |
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| Time zone | Central Africa Time (UTC+02) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC) | ||||
| Drives on the | left | |||||
| Internet TLD | .bw | |||||
| Calling code | +267 | |||||
Botswana (officially called as Republic of Botswana) is a country in southern Africa. The capital of Botswana is Gaborone.
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Geography[change]
- See also: List of cities in Botswana
Botswana is bordered by the countries of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia. It is also possible to travel from Botswana directly into Zambia by crossing the Zambezi river by ferry.
Botswana has no coast on the sea, nor on a lake. This type of country is called landlocked, and means that all of Botswana's trade must be brought in over land, or by aeroplane.
The two most important geographical features in Botswana are the Okavango delta and the Kalahari desert.
Culture[change]
People from Botswana are called Batswana. The population of Botswana is about 1.8 million people. This is a small number for a country of this size, and so the population density of Botswana is very low at only 2.7 persons per km². This is because most of the country is desert and very dry.
The languages spoken by most Batswana are English and the local language called Setswana (also called Tswana).
Botswana is a democracy and the people vote for their political leaders, who vote for their president. The current president of Botswana is Ian Khama.
Economy[change]
The economy of Botswana has been growing very fast since it became an independent country in 1966. The people of Botswana have had the world's fastest growth in standard of living since that time.
Botswana's economy comes mostly from the mining of diamonds, as well as metals such as copper and of minerals such as salt. Many people come to Botswana each year to see its wildlife, and so tourism is important to the country.
The currency of Botswana is called the Pula (which means rain). It is made up of 100 thebe (which means shield).One US $ is about 6.8 Pulas .
Other pages[change]
- Botswana Newspapers
- Botswana at the Olympics
- Botswana national football team
- List of rivers of Botswana
References[change]
- ↑ Central Intelligence Agency (2009). "Botswana". The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bc.html. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Botswana". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2008&ey=2011&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=616&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=36&pr.y=12. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
- ↑ "Distribution of family income – Gini index". The World Factbook. CIA. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
- ↑ "Human Development Report 2010". United Nations. 2010. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Table1.pdf. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
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